Improving game performance

Ok im a total noob at computers so i was wondering if someone could tell me a quick and easy way to improve my laptops gaming performance. Like are there programs i can download etc to improve performance. If there are could someone give a short explanation on them and how to get them etc, but remember not to complicated I have an M1530 with Vista Home edtition, 2Ghz, 2G RAM, 8600M gt GDDR3.

Thanks.

 

Take a look at my guide *link in sig, red* :yes:

 

Also, if you're actually in-game, you may want to turn down Anti-aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering (AA and AF respectively), as those can help you increase framerates much more than scaling down your resolution.

 

Update drivers for your graphics card.
Try 174.74 from laptopvideo2go.com as they gave a few games a boost for me. Read the sticky about updating drivers

 

Thanks guys! Now i would update my driver but i dont know how to lol, so when i say im a noob at computers i mean it

 

Ahem.. check the sticky: Gaming Forum

 

Dude,read the guide in my link.
It will tell you how to update the drivers and all that you need to know.

 

eleron911's guide looks awesome, so read it! .

But if eleron doessn't mention it:

- update all of your drivers (bios, Nvidia, soundcard, everything you can find)

- Don't use any AA unless your playing the Half-Life 2 series. Turning up the resolution gives the same effect for less FPS (frames per second).

- With that 8600M GT, I'd stick to 1280*1024 resolution or below

- Download FRAPS, run the program while your playing some of your games. If the counter drops below 20fps at any point, you need to tweak some settings. Starting with shadows, everything inbetween and finishing with textures if you have to. Textures are the last to be sacrificed in any game. Then turn FRAPS off after you've found the right mix.

List some of the games you might be having problems with, and we'll help you out.

 

there are tons of software things that you can do (many are listed above) which are free and can make a MASSIVE difference in performance.

as far as changing the hardware, increasing your ram is really all you can do in a laptop (but its a great and cheap way to get a performance boost).

i was able to sell the 2x1GB of ram in my computer for $30, and I bought 2x2GB of ram for $47 on newegg... so it really is cheap.

so do all the optimization you can- and if you want an extra bit of performance for cheap, buy more ram.

 

Well my biggest problem would be Counter Strike Source where at times i get an FPS drop down to between 15 and 25 for a few mins before it goes back to normal. But id also like to find a way to just be able to play some of my games more smoothly and at higher settings.

 

That`s what OCing is for, I`ve also covered that.
I did not mention settings since I thought it`s common sense